Best .22s for Pocket Carry [2017]

If you’re like most of us, you want to protect yourself and your family when you are out in the world. But what happens when you need to go to a place where you can’t carry your EDC gun?

Carrying Concealed

You need to come up with alternatives.

For example, lot of people choose to carry a knife or some sort of bad guy deterrent spray. While these can be effective methods for personal defense, they aren’t a gun.

Carrying a gun, even a small one, provides a greater sense of security in that it can be used while still keeping space between you and the attacker. Now, you can achieve the same effect to a certain degree with the deterrent spray like pepper spray or something, but not at the same distances and not with the same ability to intimidate a would-be attacker.

The Kimber Pepper Blaster is pretty damn tough, but it’s no gun.

Today we’re going to talk about .22 LR pocket pistols. These guns are small and easy to conceal, but still provide you with the ability to protect yourself, your property, and others.

Trailblazer LifeCard .22 LR Pocket Pistol

LifeCard Pocket Pistol

You may remember the LifeCard .22 Pocket Pistol from our post introducing it back in August. If not, here’s what you need to know.

The LifeCard is small. How small, you ask? Smaller than a deck of playing cards. The LifeCard is 1/2-inch thick, and is 3.375 inches long when it’s closed, around 4 inches when open.

How the LifeCard Folds and Unfolds

What do I mean by closed and open? This is the coolest feature of the LifeCard. It folds into a safe folded position for easy carrying, especially concealed carrying. And, because it doesn’t clearly look like a gun when folded, it provides some discretion if the viewer isn’t familiar with what you’re carrying.

Too Small and Square to Look Like a Gun

One of the first things that came to my mind when looking at this pistol was that holding onto this butterfly knife of a gun must be a pain. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it actually has a full sized handle so you can fit your whole hand on it. This is a big plus for a lot of shooters. Who wants to protect themselves with a dainty little gun that you have to hold a special way to shoot?

The LifeCard is a single shot .22 and has storage for 4 more rounds of .22LR in the grip. To reload, you need to tip the barrel, load a round, then manually cock the hammer. Think of it loading like the classic side-by-side double-barrel shotguns.

North American Arms Pocket .22s

North American Arms has quite a few different models of mini-revolvers you can carry in your pocket. Some shoot .22 short, some .22LR, and yet others .22 magnum. The one I am going to talk about here is the NAA-22LLR-HG($249.99).

NAA-22LLR-HG

What this long part number means is it’s a longer barrel .22LR with a holster grip. A lot of these little guns have an exposed trigger and hammer that are easy to snag on everything while you are taking it out of your pocket. The model shown here with the holster grip takes away half of this problem.

Another big benefit of having the attached holster act as the grip is that you have more grip to hold onto while you are shooting. A small handle is an inherent problem with a small gun. The overall length is about 4 inches.

NAA-22LLR-HG with the Handle Unfolded

This mini-revolver holds 5 rounds. To fire a round, you need to cock the hammer, then pull the trigger. This helps with safety. If it were a dual action, then you would just need to pull the trigger to fire. If you have a model that didn’t cover the trigger, you could see how dangerous that could me. Keys and gun in the same pocket, you bend down to get some of the cheap cereal at the grocery store and BAM! bye, bye Crunch Berries.

Bond Arms Rustic Ranger

Bond Arms makes a lot of the mini pistols, however, few of them are chambered in .22. The Rustic Ranger does have an option of .22LR, along with:

.357 MAG/.38 Spl

.45 ACP

.45 Colt, Only

.45 Glock Auto

.44 Special

44-40 Winchester

.40 S&W

10 mm

9 mm

32 H & R Mag

.22 Mag

Rustic Ranger

As you can see, this is a wide variety of calibers, all in the same small package. The Rustic Ranger is a 2 shot pistol with an overall length of 6 inches, about the same length as a dollar bill. It’s larger than others in the list, but it is still pocket size.

But you can get a shorter 2.5 inch barrel that even has a laser. This knocks the overall length down by 1.75 inches. You end up with a gun about 4.5 inches in overall length. That’s shorter than the Smith & Wesson BodyGuard 380 which is a smidge over 5.25 inches long.

The Ranger II is also worth a look.

Something you get with the Rustic Ranger that no other pocket .22 has on this list, is the ability to change the barrel so you can have a different caliber. All those calibers listed a couple paragraphs ago… yeah, you can get those barrels as accessory parts and change the caliber of the gun you’re carrying.

The barrel it comes with is chambered in .45/.410, so you will need to buy the .22 barrel as an add-on.

Should You Carry a Pocket .22?

Now that you know a little more about some of the options, the burning question remains: is this style gun right for you? Here is my take on these little guys.

I think they are a last resort weapon. Not because of their caliber, but because of their size and general accuracy. In a stressful situation, they will take more thought to position your hand, aim, and fire than a larger gun.

Where these pocket .22 shooters come in handy, however, is their ability to be concealed. Sure, they might not be the easiest to remove from your pocket, but if you are somewhere that you can’t wear clothing conducive to wearing your normal holstered EDC gun, then these are a good option.

The LifeCard fits nicely in a purse or even small pockets.

Precautions when Carrying a Pocket .22

I mentioned earlier that these are a single action. Safety is the main concern. As you are crouching, walking, and sitting down, you don’t want one of these things randomly going off in your pocket. Always ensure that the hammer is not cocked when it’s in your pocket.

There are holsters for some of the pocket .22s on the market. While they are not always necessary, they will probably make carrying the pistol more comfortable.

Leather Holster for the Rustic Ranger

Conclusion

Some people call them backup guns, while others think of them as toys. Regardless of what you call them, these .22s for pocket carry have their place in your concealed carry bag of tricks. They might not be as badass as your XDs with a flashlight, but they can certainly do their job.

Trevor found a love for guns later in life when he bought his first handgun and got his concealed carry permit. Since then, he has taken his love of the outdoors and guns and combined them with his writing career. He looks at shooting like golf, it takes a lot of practice and anyone can have an off day. He's interested in helping fellow gun newbies learn more about shooting and carrying firearms, and how to get better at both.

Become a Better Shooter

Get a FREE PDF of my top favorite shooting drills and zeroing targets you can use at home or the range.

I agree with the article, something is better that nothing. Especially when it mat not be practical to carry a larger firearm. As I read once, the gun on your person will defend you better than one sitting on the shelf of you safe or closet.

Something is most definitely better than nothing. Here in Indiana, the so-called “Gun Free Zones” don’t carry any legal authority(excluding government buildings or schools). So the sign at a restaurant like Buffalo Wild Wings “banning guns” is meaningless from a legal standpoint. Sure, you’re trespassing if they ask you to leave and you refuse, but the sign doesn’t have any bearing on that. What I’m getting at is its not illegal for me to carry at a business with one of these signs. If they can’t see the gun, they’ll never know its there. In these instances, a pocket pistol… Read more »

Pew Pew Shop

I may earn a small part of the sale from links to any products or services on this site. You do not pay anything extra and your purchase helps support my work in bringing you more awesome gun and gear articles.